Witching Hour
by Vampires Done Right
Summary: Making a split second decision, Rosalie uses the distraction of Bella's assumed death after the birth to kidnap Renesmee. Re-naming the child, Rosalie has raised 'Vanessa' on the run from the Cullen's, seeing the world with her adopted daughter until they decide to make a stop in Paris. A chance encounter with Alice is about to bring everything full circle. Oh, and Nessie is deaf.
1. Chapter 1

**I want to first let you know that every step of the way in this chapter and the continuation of this story, that I have been researching sign language and the ASL community. I did take ASL in college, I also still have my text book from said class that I look for reference in along with Online options. It's hard to describe every sign, so I won't. If the signs I have described sounds wrong at all please tell me right away so I can correct it.**

 **I want to add a bit more diversity to colored and disabled characters, and this is my starting point. I want to do them justice.**

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 _CHAPTER 1_

 _September 28th, 2012_

We had gone to the city because of fashion week. Zuhair Murad had just presented his new collection, which my mom had had already ordered and had put aside for us to pick up at our convenience, pulling strings through her little web of designers.

I would never understand the hype of such expensive clothing, when you could look as just as good with a little tweaking if you bought something from Walmart or Macy's. Though I wasn't exactly a shopping enthusiast, for the most part I let my mom dress me.

That was why I was currently finishing up getting my red roots touched up at a salon to match the rest of my dyed blonde hair, the one thing I participated and enjoyed. I liked the color, it matched my moms, and the experience of having someone wash your hair for you was incredible. I've been dying my hair ever since I was little, probably younger than most kids that start dying their hair. I was 15 now, are at least that's my physical age, technically I'm only 6.

It's complicated.

Once I was done, I put my hearing aides back in and stepped out of the parlor chair. Turning I brought my hand palm towards me and fingers together, and touched my lips with the tips of my fingers and brought my hand and forearm away and down. Thanking my stylist in sign language.

"Beautiful." my mom signed as I came up to her. The fact was that she was the truly beautiful one, her facial features perfectly balanced, an aesthetic masterpiece. She was tall with a figure that you saw on the bodies of the women that were on the front of Sport Illustrated. She reminded of the statues of the greek goddesses more than those women though, statuesque and noble. She had golden hair, my hair dyed as close to the same color we could find, and falling just as long as mine did, ending at the small of her back in brilliant, shimmering waves.

Lifting my hand to her face, I touched her cheek and showed how I saw her, how beautiful she was to me, how much I loved her and thanked her from once again treating me to such pampering. I had even gotten a full mani-pedi, and spa treatment before my hair.

"You're welcome. You're my angel, just ask for it and it's yours." she told me before she kissed my head and handed her credit card over to the salon cashier, also handing a large cash tip to Audra and Nadeen, the women who had done my hair and nails.

It wasn't necessary for her to spoil me so much, I already knew how much she loved me so she had no need to try and prove it further with material items. Most of the times these little shopping trips were more tiring than they were enjoyable, my favorite part was when we got to eat. Where as my mom's diet included nothing but animal blood, my taste was a bit more varied.

My favorite were burgers, real, wholesome and delicious hamburgers. Just the thought of them was making me hungry. Touching my mom's wrist as we walked out of the salon, I showed her what it was that I wanted.

"Alright, but I'm not sure if there are any burger places around." she sneered at the image of the greasy food. I kept my hand on her skin, letting her know that was ok, that I could go for anything really at that point.

"I saw a cute little bistro, just down the street earlier, how about that?" she suggested, her signing fluent and perfect since the day she started learning with me. It was a habit at this point to both sign and speak at the same type while having almost any conversation with me, even when I could clearly read her lips.

A bistro sounded good too, I could get a roast beef sandwich. I let her know my approval, and for the rest of the time we held hands as we walked, showing her the vivid and clear world I saw through my eyes, the way I felt, fascinated by everything, my mind in high gear even now.

At a certain point she tucked some of my hair behind my ear, showing of the cute, 3,000 dollar Cartier earrings she had bought me last year for my birthday and matching bracelet . They were gold orchids, small and classy. I loved them.

Turning up the volume of my hearing aids, I enjoyed the ambient noise it allowed me to hear. I could hear the murmur of water from the fountains all over the street, the flapping of pigeons as child ran through a flock of them just ahead, I could hear people talking too. It wasn't at the same volume as other people could hear, but at least I could hear something.

I got my roast beef sandwich in the end and a side of sweet potato fries, washing it all down with a bottle of _Gini._ As I ate I would occasionally reach over for my mom, taking her hand and letting her experience what it felt like to eat again, to live it through me. It wasn't something we did often, but once in awhile I would catch her glancing as some form of food with a nostalgic expression, remembering her human days when she ate and took enjoyment in mundane food. She told me she had loved pasta and champagne when she was human. So sometimes, I would make it at home, and have a small glass and let her relive the taste and pleasure of it again.

After we were done with lunch we continued on our way, stopping at the hottest shops to pick up the latest trends and released lines. In between we enjoyed the Paris sights. We had been to France before, but we usually when we stayed here it was in Normandy, away from the crowds of people, especially if we wanted to stay for awhile.

The people and places were all beautiful, different and unique from what you would fine is America. And the cars were a whole other story. I loved cars, are to be clear, I loved fixing cars side by side with my mom. My favorite were the more vintage, classic models, the ones that it was really hard to find the parts for.

Maybe we could stop by an auto shop. Or, if we were really lucky I would find out they were having a car show. Nothing like fashion week to also show off a bunch of shiny cars. The city was vibrating with excitement, girls of all ages huddled together around a news article or magazine, boys admiring all the girls in their pretty new clothes and hairstyles. Monochromatic colors and prints had taken over the streets, the neon colors of 2010 till now thrown out for black and white. Denim had also taken a rise here and there this year. I myself was a fan of the polka-dot tops. My mom took that into consideration when she was shopping for my closest.

The last thing on our to do list was to pick up the designs she had reserved earlier on. To get them we would have to go to the hotel where they were hosting the weeks fashion shows.

I wasn't too thrilled to be in an environment that I didn't really feel like I fit in amongst. The fashion world just wasn't the place for me, it wasn't the peak of my interests and my mom could dress me up like a Barbie as much as she wanted but it would never change how I felt about it. It just wasn't me. Besides some small similarities, mostly things i had picked up while growing, I wondered if we were even related at all. Our minds just worked so differently.

I found my chance to get out of going to the runway when I noticed a large book store up ahead, the newest publishing's out on display in the large glass windows. With our hands full with the fancy paper bags stuffed with even fancier clothes, we couldn't hold hands as we had before. Shrugging some bags around I managed to reach out and touch her arm, holding my spot there to show her what it was I wanted, how I felt.

She gave a sigh, but smiled in an understanding manner. Since her hands were full as well, she couldn't sign to me, but since I could read her lips.

"Alright. But if you go anywhere else just text me to let me know ok, I'll freak out if I come back to get you and your not there. Promise?" she said, her golden eyes sharp and stern as she looked down at me, reminding me just how short I was compared to her. Being 4'11 sucked, especially when your mom was 5'9.

 _I promise,_ I thought, keeping my hand on her and passing my sincerity on. Once she received the message I was free to go enjoy myself, by myself for a little bit while she did the same, but before we went our separate ways we exchanged 'I love yous' and did our best to hug with all the bags in our arms. She kissed both my cheeks and my forehead before she finally let me go.

I stayed to the front of the store, where all the newly published literature was. I found an old, almost antique looking chair and pulled it to the front, placing some of my bags on it while I peruse through the different genre's.

I both enjoyed classical and modern fiction, and nonfiction and poetry as well on occasion. I had the complete works of Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters, Leo Tolstoy, I had the box sets of the Inheritance Cycle saga by Christopher Paolini, James Dashner's Maze Runner series, the works of Stephen King and was continuing a number of other uncompleted series of novellas that were still in the works to their endings. My favorite so far was a very amusing Young adult series about vampires call the House of Night series. I liked all genre's from dystopian, fantasy, horror, romance and mysteries. I just in whole loved to read anything I could get my hands on.

They just published a book this year by a man named John Green, The Fault in our Stars. I had heard of it before, seemed to get great reviews. I was looking forward to reading it.

I had already an extensive pile of books that I planned to buy, when I decided to finally look up after standing for an hour and a half, reading the inside covers and back of every book, deciding on which ones to get. I faced the large windows and had a clear view of the cloudy sky, the reason me and my mom could come out this week. Actually it was more my mom that needed the shade than I did. Where I only gave a slight glow, a shimmer in the sun she full out sparkled like a Swarovski crystal. It was an astonishing sight, beautiful, but it didn't do well to walk around like that when you were trying to keep a low profile that you belonged to the supernatural.

That's when I noticed them. A couple standing across the shop, man and woman with arms filled with as many bags as me and my mom if not more. But that wasn't what me catch my breath. It was there eyes, they were gold, amber like my mom's with the same bruised look under them, my enhanced vision letting me see as much. Their skin was chalk white, and they were insanely beautiful. They were vampires, they had to be.

We didn't come across too many vampires during our travels, my mom didn't want them to know about me, my existence was hard to explain and she was terrified of what others would think or even do. If they might try and hurt me or even worse go to the Volturi. At the same time I couldn't help but feel drawn to them, the part of me that was vampire tugging me towards them. I continued to watch them, curious.

One of them was thin girl as a stick and very short , about my height or maybe even shorter. She had short, black hair styled in a pixie cut. Pixie, how ironic, she herself looked like a fairy, a pixie from Peter Pan with her stature, large eyes and delicate features. She could have been from fifteen to eighteen when she was turned, her age like all vampires timeless, undiscerning.

The other, was a tall and lean boy at least 6'2, with long honey blonde hair that fell just before collar. He was just as pale as the girl, and she could see scars all over his body, at least the parts where his skin was exposed. She was sure no one else, as in human, could see them. But they weren't ordinary scars, they were bite marks.

I tried to be discreet in my staring, looking behind them or back down at my book every few seconds, until the one time that I looked back up I found them both staring right back at me, their faces first just a uninterested glance, then they looked puzzled and then finally shocked like they realized what I was. But it was more than that, it was like they were seeing a ghost when they saw me. Like they knew me in someway. Of course that was impossible, I had never met them before in my life, I would have remembered. Not once had I ever seen their faces before.

As we stared at each other, I realized it was time to go, that this was not good at all. I needed to text my mom and get back to her.

Grabbing all of my bags, I stared at the pile of books. I really didn't want to leave them, besides I'm sure they wouldn't actually come into the store, they would just go on there way. Yeah, I'm sure they would. Picking up the books I brought them over to the register, smiling at the cashier as he rang my books and I got my wallet and cellphone out from my little, gold hedgehog bag. I loved my little bag, I picked it out myself. Of course that meant my mom hated it.

Speaking of which, I shot her a quick text that I would meet her halfway and would be leaving the book store in a minute. By the time I had sent the message the cashier had finished with my books. Looking at the tiny rectangle, I took out the right about of cash from my simple designed Vivienne westwood wallet, looking like any other black leather wallet, it's style a little more masculine than the long rectangle wallets girls had slung from their wrists these days. The best part was that it was small enough to fit in my hedgehog. The wallet would have been indistinguishable from any other, except for the gold logo that gave it's brand away, it would take a trained eye to notice it.  
Taking my change, slipped it in my wallet and back into my purse, grabbing the bag of books from the counter.

"Oh what a cute wallet, I have the same one but in violet." I turned just in time to see her lips, my eyes conveniently downcast to catch sight of them. I would have walked right into her if she had stopped and stood any closer. She surprised me by speaking english rather than french, seeing as we were in France. That was the good thing about ASL, it was universal.

I blinked at the little vampire, taking note of how she studied my face with her eyes while the rest of her facial expressions was trained to give away nothing, a stone surface in a friendly smile. I opened my mouth, and then closed it. My arms were full, but not heavy, if I tilted them just right I could slide the bags in my hand further up my wrist so I could sign, not that I was sure they would understand either way. I just didn't know what else to do.

"Thank you." I signed, not knowing what else I could really say in response.

The tiny vampires large eyes went even wider as she watched my hands move and not my lips, realization hitting her and she made a tiny 'o' with her mouth.

"Your deaf?" she moved her perfect lips, her mouth small and lips full and pretty. She looked confused and then horrified, but in a sad kind of way that I recognized immediately as pity.

I frowned at her and nodded.

"I need to go." I signed, pointing to myself and then keeping one hand close to me and the other a little bit forward I curled my fingers in accept for my pointer and brought them up and down once for go.

"Nice to meet you." I finished and tried to walk around the couple, determined to get out and find my mom. But a wave of reluctances washed over me, and I felt almost dazed and then the blond boy was in front of me, signing.

"You are alright, don't fight it." he spoke as he signed, with was easier since his signing was a little sloppy, but still well enough to read. If he messed up I could always just read his lips too as long as he continued to talk as well.

Fight what. Why did I feel this way, were these people doing this to me. Were they also gifte? Who were they? I was so scared, I just wanted my mom. As I felt panic fight against this reluctance and calm, I felt another emotion coming sweeping in, drowning my fear with trust.

"We don't want to hurt you." he said, his signing slow as he backed up, out of the store, and I followed of my own accord, but not really, I felt influenced to go with him.

"What's your name?" was the closest to 'who are you people?' that you could get, but I managed to ask it in my drugged out state, at least I assumed this was what it felt like to be on drugs.

"My name is Jasper and this is Alice," he introduced himself and his partner in crime.

It was strange, at times my thoughts were free of his influence, though it didn't last long and I was once against thinking them the nicest people I've ever met.

"Hello, Alice, Jasper." I assigned Alice's ASL name by making the small sign and bringing it to my body. Jaspers was bite that went into a 'J'. I felt like we were best friends.

Alice who had come around looked at my hands and then too jasper, her face sideways so I couldn't make out her words to well, but I could hear a tiniest bit with my aids. She was asking what I said. Jasper explained to her by giving them their ASL names, and that it was a good thing, very good.

"I can't believe it's really her, Jazz, it's Renesmee." Alice spoke looking excited. Who was Renesmee, did she mean me? "She even has Bella's eyes, she looks so much like her, but she has Edwards chin. And her hair, I was sure they said she had Edward's hair when she was born, she must have died it to hide her better."

Who and what were they talking about, who was Bella and Edward?  
"Rosalie can't be far, there's no way she would leave her alone for long. We have to take her and go now, we'll never get this chance again." she spoke to rushed, it was hard to keep up, luckily my hearing aide compensated for me. Jasper just nodded and continued to pump me full of calm and trust as he lead me towards the road where Alice was waving down a taxi.

No! I didn't want to go with them, where were they going to take me?

It took only a few seconds until a car was pulling to the curb. But before we got in, Alice gave her bags and took mine and gave them to the driver to put in the trunk, as if she realized the value of the contents and found them to precious to part with. While the driver did that, and Jasper stayed close enough to me to brainwash me...and oh, he was really nice again, I smiled.

I was too distracted by what I was feeling, that I barely noticed Alice go through my purse, taking out my phone.

"We'll get you a new one, I promise." she told me before dropping my cell down the sewer drain at the curb. She then went back into my purse and found my passport.

Opening it up, she frowned at what the contents read.

"Vanessa Carol McCarty," she read out my full name, looking extremely angry. "She even changed her name."

She closed my passport and put in back in my purse. "We need to go."

"Please, get in the car." it wasn't a request, but he said it to be polite, to come off kind and gentle. What he said I felled compelled to do. So I slid in next before he followed and I was being sandwiched between the two vampires.

The driver didn't turn around, but I saw the twitch of his jaw as I was sure he was asking where we were going. I looked at Jasper, he didn't move, and then to Alice.

"À l'aéroport." she told him in french, which believe it or not was much easier to read her lips than it was english. My heart hammered in my chest. The airport, we were going to the airport. Panic rose in my, and I tried to focus, to fight against these feeling that weren't mine but I began to feel relaxed again, Jasper calming me and I began to think of other things, of the time me and my mom went to Wahlburgers on Coney Island, where my love for hamburgers was born, the peace of reading by the window on a rainy or snowy day with a fluffy quilt wrapped around me.

"Bella is going to be so happy that we finally found you, she and Edward never stopped looking for you," Alice turned her body towards me, her smile bright and perfect as she spoke so that I could see.

"None of us could have ever thought Rosalie would have done something so awful, she even left Emmett behind." she was speaking more to herself than me. "Poor Emmett, he hasn't been the same since."

"I can't believe you're deaf, it makes no sense being what you are, at least I think so. We'll know more once Carlisle can look you over." she said, that look on her face again, pity. I didn't want pity, I hated it, it did me no good and meant nothing to me when I've been raised to be more than my disability, to be a functional member of society without having to rely on others to compensate for my hearing.

She could shove her pity where the sun don't shine.

"Let me get a look at you." she said, and placed her hands on my face, turning it so I was facing her. I hoped she could see the anger behind the daze in my eyes. I wished I could focus my gift into the rest of my skin, that way I could force my thoughts into her head, my feelings like they were doing similar to me.

That's the thing about my power, if I wanted to I could use it as a weapon, make people see what I wanted them to see and think, brainwash them and it would last even after I touched them. It happened once when I was really little, I had wandered into a toy store my mother not far, and I asked a sales lady for a teddy bear, she gave it to me but said I had to pay for it.

To make a long story short, I didn't like that, didn't realize what I was capable of and took her hand and practically brainwashed her until she said a bumbling idiot telling me to take whatever toys I wanted.

My mom was not happy with me and from then started to better teach me how to control my gift and lay down my limitations as to what I was allowed to do with it.

All this went through my mind in seconds while Alice studied my face, taking in every little pore and tiny, pale hair.

"You really do look like Bella, and you are even more beautiful than Edward. You're stunning." she said so soft that my hearing aid wasn't able to pick it up, but I caught the movements of her mouth, the flick and roll of her tongue and forming of her lips.

"Such a shame about your hair though, Edward has beautiful hair." she looked sad. "But I'm sure we can fix that right up when we get back."

Back where, where were they taking me.

"Have you told the others yet." Jasper said on my other side, my aid catching it for me when I couldn't see him.

"Oh, I should, shouldn't I!" she realized and pulled out a phone much fancier than mine, probably the newest model. She spent a full minute, her fingers zipping over the numbers as she contacted not just one, but multiple people. Just as she finished, I heard the tiny noise of the ring as someone called her.

Answering she brought it to her ear. Even with my hearing aids I couldn't hear the person on the other side, but I did pay attention to Alice.

"It's her Edward, I'm sure. I can't see her like others and she looks so much like the two of you, not to mention she has a similar smell to Bella when she was human. It's her, there's no doubt about it."

"That won't be possible Bella, she can't talk, she seems to be deaf. Besides I think even if she could talk to you, it would be too much right now. I'm sorry." she said, switching between people or on speaker phone on their side.

"She's grown, she looks about fifteen. It was why I wasn't sure that it was really her at first." she told them, answering someones question.

There was nothing to be sorry about though except for the fact they were kidnapping me!

"Not sure. We didn't want to risk running into her so Jasper has her under control right now, and we're on the way to the airport." she said to Edward or Bella, whoever was on the other end at the moment.

"Yeah, that would save us a lot of time. Lucky for us she had her passport on her when we found her." I couldn't listen anymore, I didn't want to, I just wanted to close my eyes and take out my aids and let world fall away, pretend none of this was happening.

"Alright, we should be at the airport in a couple of minutes. I'll call you before we get on the plane." then she was sharing goodbyes and hanging up, and all I wanted to do was strangle her but once again any of my own emotions were quickly suppressed and replaced with happier ones, sedating me, coercing me to go along with them.

When we arrived at the airport, the driver brought us in front of the Delta terminal. I felt my throat tightened and the burn as a few tears finally escaped. This was really happening. They were going to make me get on a plan to who knows where and I would never see my mom again.

"Jasper!" Alice hissed low under her breath at him. Her gaze was adoring but urgent and sympathetic as she glanced at me as she got out of the car.

"I know you are scared, but ya don't need to be." he said, and I noticed then as he kneeled in front of me outside the car, that he might have an accident. They way he formed his words were different. It was a good distraction from my fear and I managed to have enough control without being told what to do to wipe away my tears.

"I want to go home." I signed, more tears coming. "I want my mom."

"I know, and we're taking you there." he told her. "It's all going to be ok."

"You have to trust us though, can you do that." I didn't have a choice as calm and trust flowed into me, but it was all artificial, but knowing that didn't change anything as these new feelings lead my actions and I found myself nodding in understanding.

"Good, now you're going to come with us, and we're going to get on a plane home and everything will be alright." I believed him, or at least these emotions he was making me feel, had me believing him.

He touched my forearms and helped lead me out of the car, the cab driving away once the door was closed behind me. Alice must have already payed him and somehow in the time that Jasper was talking me down, she had taken all our things from the trunk, purchased suitcases from a store that I couldn't find, all the clothes my mom had bought me packed away in the designer suitcases.

"Ready?" she asked us, peppy and light as she stood smiling at us, luggage on either side of her.

"Yes." Jasper answered for the both of us, guiding me as he placed a hand between my shoulders.

"This is so great that we found you. A complete chance." she prattled on. "Thankfully I never miss fashion week, be it Paris or Milan, I'm surprised Rosalie didn't think of that." she said, and I hated the way she said my moms name, like she had done something awful.

"Everyone is so excited to meet you." she bounced a little. "Everything is going to be so much better now."

I agreed with her, the trust that I was made to feel towards Jasper now extending to her. Of course it would be better, I even was made to feel excited.

"I wish I could see your future, it's always so much better that way." she said before turning her back to me, falling beside Jasper who took some of the luggage.

We headed first for the kiosks at the forefront, checking in and scanning our passports before brining out luggage to a person to be tagged and checked. I was handed my tickets and saw it was for first class on a direct flight to Seattle, Washington.

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 **PLEASE READ**

 **So I believe this is either the second or third time that I have rewritten this story but I promise it will be the last.**

 **I want to answer/explain a few things that you might be wondering about.**

 **1: So yeah, my theory behind giving Ness's disability and gift and is that because she was born deaf her ability was developed to compensate the loss of that sense of communication. More details on how she was born deaf will be explained in later chapters.**

 **2: As is it was already explained Renesmee's hair and name were changed to better conceal her identity from those(the Cullen's) looking for her.**

 **3: Her new name. Vanessa-In breaking dawn this was going to be her new Alias if she had to escape with Jacob if the confrontation with the Volturi became violent. Carol-Stephanie Meyer said this was her original name for Rosalie and finally McCarty- Emmett's last name when he was a human.**

 **4: More of an interesting little fact that answering a question. I have started to read Life and Death and am really liking it so far, some of Ness's character and personality is inspired by a mix of Bella as a human and Edythe.**

 **Any other question please let me know in a review and I will answer them in the beginning of the next chapter without spoiling anything if I can. And bringing up reviews, I really hope you guys do or at least follow or favorite my story to let me know that you're interested. It really helps, that and my opal stones that I picked up in Salem during a family vacation(Opal is supposed to help with inspiration, I keep one in front of my keyboard when I write.)**


	2. Chapter 2

**So, I got the general idea of how Jaspers power works, but I've been unsure of the thought process of those he uses it on. Do their initial thoughts remain the emotions they are made to feel make them easier to coerc? Honestly I wasn't sure, as it never gives an exact and deep insight to the other person's thoughts. For Bella, it was just that she noticed her emotions/feelings had changed: pain to pleasure, refusal to acceptance and so on, but no long term exposure at one time.**

 **All I can say is I did the best I could with it what I have, and apologize if it's not what you expected.**

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 _CHAPTER 2_

The flight to Seattle from Paris was seven hours and 38 minutes. I sat beside Jasper in the middle row of first class, Alice in a single seat by the window across from me. Once again stuck in the middle of the two. I had begun to feel light headed, falling into an illusion of these people, that they were my friends. I didn't like it, I was scared I would get stuck that way.

"You can stop. I can't do anything." I turned to Jasper. Glaring at him. He looked around me at Alice, as if he needed to ask her permission. I glanced over my shoulder at her and saw her nod, and almost immediately I felt myself able to breath, as if the emotions I was forced to feel were suffocating me.

"Thank you." I let out a long deep breath, leaning back in my chair more relaxed than I was when I was being forced to feel that way.

"Don't go far if you get up." he spoke, warning me. I tuned my hearing aids, trying to catch his accent. Southern? Though I wasn't sure what part of the south.

"Why Seattle?" I asked, making sure my face gave way that it was a question. Facial expressions while signing was a big part of understanding what someone was trying to say, if it was a question or a statement.

"What's she saying?" Alice asked him.

"She wants to know why we're taking her to Seattle," he told her.

I hated being interpreted. I was so used to either writing things down, signing or showing them. I turned in my comfortable seat and turned to her, a small plane forming in my head. My mom made me promise never to do it again, but maybe I could do it slowly, in stages so they didn't go mad but enough that when the moment came they would hesitate to chase me when I escaped.

"That's where we live, where our family is. Your family." she smiled gently, the look in her eyes not pity but like she was approaching wild animal, careful as she watched my reaction. She was confused when I reached my hand out across the aisle.

I nodded to. This time it was Alice looking to Jasper for permission. He was ready, reading my mood and prepared to alter them if my intentions seemed harmful.

She took my hand, and I showed her my mother, my thoughts of what was happening. I went slow, not wanting to overwhelm her, I pushed the images and words gently into her head.

"You're gifted." she gave a surprised and pleased smile. I could tell she was also relieved that we could now communicate better.

I showed her the wonderful day my mom had been having before they showed up, the love we shared for one another. She was my _mom,_ and they took me from her.

"She's not your mother, Renesmee."

 _Vanessa!_ I shouted into her head, watching her flinch and Jasper's hand was on her shoulder trying to pull me away from Alice. But Alice just shook her head, letting him know she was fine.

 _My name is Vanessa, it is the only name I have ever known. You've already taken me from my mom, let me keep that at least._ The words in my head weren't always a verbal communication, sometimes it was like a ransom note, letter cut out and pieced together, sometimes it was ASL. But when it was in spoken word, it was in a musical voice, what I imagined and hoped my voice would sound like if I wasn't deaf.

 _And if she's not my mother, who is? But just know, no matter what you tell me I still won't believe you._ I remembered being inside her womb, seeing her hand as she felt me move. She told the birth had been very hard, that my father left us before he knew and a vampire found her and changed her after I was born. I remembered her changing my diapers, and feeding me, both milk and blood until I was old enough to be taught how to hunt with her. Her voice reading me to bed, or singing a lullaby. How could she not be my mom?

"Your mom, your biological mother, her name is Bella Swan. I suppose it's actually Bella Cullen now, she's been married to your dad for the last six years." she explained to me. I couldn't imagine a dad, it's always been just be and my mom, that she after me she never needed anyone else, I completed her life. I always felt a little bad for her, seeing her alone when she was so amazing any man human or vampire would be lucky to have her.

"She did have some one, and she left him when she took you." I stared at her, my lips tight 's not your mother, she's your aunt. She kidnapped you minutes after you were born, she tricked everyone into thinking she just wanted to help."

I shook my head, my mom wouldn't do that. She was loving and kind and so considerate, she loved children and me, and people. She was happy and talked to other people, listened to their problems. I remembered the moms of the few friends I was able to make on our travels, the way she bonded with them as they watched us kids play.

"That's because Rosalie always wanted to be a mother, even when she was human, but when she found out your mom was pregnant and you were born, she finally had that chance. It's one of the reasons she resented being a vampire so much." she had lowered her voice so those around us couldn't hear, so neither could I and once again relied more on my ability to read her lips than my aids.

"Those memories you have while you were in the womb, that wasn't Rosalie, that was Bella. She fought everyone to protect, to make sure you were born healthy and safe and Rosalie took you from her and left her to die without a care after helping her." I snatched my hand back. I hadn't pushed hard enough, focused to much on conversing than putting my feeling into her head like I had planned.

I didn't want to hear anymore from her or anyone else. So I turned off my hearing aids, took them out and closed my eyes while trying not to cry.

Sometime after that I was aware I had drifted to sleep, my dreams just as vivid and working in high gear as my mind did when I was awake. My mom would often sit by my bed and hold my hand, watching my dreams like they were her own, taking relief that in them she could see I was genuinely happy. I dreamed of my mom this time, I dreamed of the places we've been, the people we've met. It was surreal like most dreams, there was an element to it, the coloring and lighting, darker. It flowed in one direction, an unyielding that you couldn't fight against to go backwards.

Everything was good, we talked with our friends and then parted ways to go back home to our house in Normandy. We were in the car, and I was watching the passing trees and fields of heather. I loved Heather, I had a little window box in my room of them. I loved waking up and going to sleep to the scent. I turned to look at my mom, and she smiled at me, then something hit the car and we were whizzing off the road. Mom managed to straighten out the car, but whatever hit us the first time hit us again, and this time much harder, and the car spun in circles until the driver's side was smashing into a tree. Something like this wouldn't hurt my mom, but I felt my head smash into the glass while we were turning, my skin tough enough that it didn't draw blood, but I would have a bruise for sure. My mom screamed my name, my aids ringing so loud I was almost ready to rip them out, it nearly hurt.

She reached for me, to draw me close and look me over like she always did when she thought I was hurt. But before she could my door was torn open and I was dragged out of the car, cold arms on either side of me, hands as hard as stone digging into my arms and sides. I wanted to scream, but another hand came around my mouth and I couldn't breath.

Then I was awake, jolting up in the reclining first class seat, my heart racing in panic as I looked all around me, hands shaking as I reached for my aids. I struggled to hook them around my ear and fit the mold in on my left when I felt myself calm down and my hands steadied, my heart calmed and I was able to put the mold in without anymore problem. I knew it was Jaspers doing, that he had taken the edge off my anxiety. I wanted to be mad, but I was actually grateful. The last thing I needed was to start panicking on an international flight.

With a deep breath I glanced at Jasper next to me, his eyes were closed, his chest moving in even breaths, faking sleep.

I turned to my other side to see Alice looking at me, smiling. I took that moment to take her in as she had been taking me in. She was definitely smaller than me, probably only an inch, and where she was thin and flat, I had curves where she didn't. My C-cup, beating out her A-cup, and my legs were more shapley. I mean, I knew was beautiful, I've seen myself in the mirror and had my mom's endless praise of how pretty I was. But everyone had some little insecurities that nagged at them, most of them time I was confident in my body, the stares that people gave me helped if not made me feel uncomfortable at times. It was harder to blend in when you were _too beautiful._ Who would have thought.

I shook myself out of my thoughts and tapped a finger on my wrist, asking Alice for the time.

"You've been asleep for most of the flight, lucky you." she giggled.

Thens he added. "You have beautiful dreams, except for the end. I'm sorry we've made you feel this way."

I scoffed, rolling my eyes and wiped at them quickly feeling the tears there ready to fall. I hated being such a crier, it was so embarrassing and I could feel my pale face go splotchy with the flush of anger and many other things that I was feeling. I was glad that at that moment Jasper didn't use his gift to make me feel something else, to let me be upset. After all I think I deserved it, my life has just been ripped out from underneath me. I've been kidnapped and apparently my mom isn't my mom.

I didn't know what to believe, and that was the worst part. That I was actually doubting my mom.

Alice did her best to try and get to know me during the rest of the flight, to talk to me about my supposed family that I had been whisked away from. I didn't want to hear it and turned my hearing aids off again, turned the subtitles on the tiny tv that was installed in the back of the seat in front of me, and focused on that instead. I couldn't and didn't want to listen to anything she had to say, didn't want to doubt my mom even in the slightest.

During the flight I enjoyed the luxury of a slightly better than coach meal, and filled up on Sprite. When I started to get fidgety, Jasper handed me one of the books I had bought, having stuffed them into one of the carry-on bags that Alice had bought before out departure. I begrudgingly thanked him and began my exploration into the new world at my fingertips, each page leading to a bigger part of the adventure. It was an even better distraction than the television. I could get better lost in my own head, my imagination free to interpret and envision the scenes and characters as I pleased. I could easily read the book in minutes, my brain easily able to locate and process the words and sentences at a much faster rate than a normal human. Personally I liked to take my time when I was reading, I felt it ruined the atmosphere the author was trying to provide by zooming through it without any real consideration.

Three hours later, I had successfully gone without having to converse with Alice, despite her many attempts to get my attention and explain further. I wasn't having it. She seemed upset to be ignored, pouting and crossing her arms as if she had expected some other response from me then the one she got. I had the feeling she wasn't used to things not going her way. But then I remembered she had said something about seeing the future, so maybe that was the actual case. She always knew what was coming, what to expect and for me that didn't apply. It wasn't hard to put together that for some reason she couldn't see me. That would work to my advantage for my escape.

After a while everyone seemed to perk up, focusing on a sound I couldn't hear. I figured there must be an announcement in progress and turned my aids back on. My heart dropped. We would be landing soon. I had known that was what the announcement most likely was, but a demented part of me wanted to hear it myself. I felt panic spike, my entire body stiffening, What was going to happen once we landed, where were they going to take me? I assumed it would be to this family, the Cullen's, that Alice had tried to tell me more about. I didn't care about them, didn't know them and didn't want to. My one and only family member was my mom, and despite my curiosity as a child I was now content with our life together. Just us. But these people had taken that.

I gripped my arm rest so tight I could feel the give and creak of the metal beneath my fingers and palms. Taking a deep breath I let go, knowing if I held on I would break them. My hands trembled with unease, not knowing what I should do with them. I wanted to cry and throw a tantrum, to destroy things. I was mad, so, so mad. But most of all, on top of all my rage, I was terrified. And when I was scared, the only thing I wanted in the entire world was my mom, to be held in her arms and to let me know it was ok, and that I was safe because she was there to protect me. I didn't have her. I was alone and outnumbered.

"Don't." I signed, sensing that Jasper was about to work his mood changing mojo on me again.

I looked at him, my eyes pleading as I bit my lip. A habit that I had, sometimes, I would chew until I bit too hard and drew blood.

"I am allowed to me mad and feel scared." I told him, my pleading expression turning into a hard glare.

"Fine." he agreed, but he hesitated. Either way he let me be.

It was my fear that made me tremble. I felt my throat get tight as I tried to breath through my nose and tried to find some way to occupy my hands. I thought of the piano, lifting my arms and dropping my fingers onto the imaginary keys. My mom had taught me to play. I had asked her to teach me after learning that one of the greatest composers and pianist in the world was deaf. My favorite was moonlight sonata.

I didn't even notice that Alice was recording my little performance, and when I did notice my glare that I had earlier shot Jasper was directed at her. She was friendly, but their was a pushiness to her that unsettled me. I'm sure I was just looking for reasons not to like her even more, but I was ok with that right now. She had a charm about her in a way, she was different than people I knew, more forward and unabashed. In a tiny little way, she reminded me of my mom. I was probably just biased against her for kidnapping me, but since she did kidnap me there might be something completely wrong with her head.

As we began our descent I tried my best to keep my anxiety at bay, ripping apart my nerves, not wanting to give any more reason for Jasper to take over. I was so scared about what was going to happen next. I just had to try and remember that eventually my mom would find me, I knew she would, and that's what I had to believe, not these people.

I rubbed at my face, braided my hair, unbraided it, plucked at the fabric of my black shorts, unrolled the sleeves of my denim, polka-dot-shirt, and then rolled them up again. And then the bump came, the tell tale of the plane's tires hitting the runway, and the whoosh of driving down it before slowing down and taking a steady pace to the gates.  
"Don't run." Jasper leaned in and warned her as the jet bridge connected, passengers rising in their seats to take out their bags from the overhead. Jasper handed me the backpack with my books, and took out what mostly seemed to be Alice's luggage from the top.

Despite his warning, I wanted to run, to tell someone that I had been kidnapped, to go to the police. But I had the feeling if I tried, it wouldn't be hard for Jasper to calm down the trouble I would stir doing so. It would better now to get people involved in my escape. It was stupid not to go with this plan, witnesses always made more sense, especially in the cases of vampires. It put fear of exposure into them, too large amount of attention could rise questions and put them in the spotlight. It was a good plan.

The only thing stopping me was that Jasper was making me feel hesitant, unsure and doubtful so that I wouldn't go through with it. He had quickly sensed my scheming, my anxiety to move and go through with it and the confidence I had that it would work. It was the confidence I'm sure that clued him in real quick to what I was thinking. I cursed my stupidity and lack of ability to conceal my emotions better.

There was no one picking us up, I was surprised. The way Alice had been talking about how excited everyone was to see me, a complete stranger to them, I thought there would be a welcoming party waiting for us. Instead we continued out of the airport and took the shuttle to long term parking where we then proceeded to hunt down a beautiful 2006, sunshine yellow, 911 turbo Porsche. My eyes bulged. It was beautiful, what I would do to get a chance to dissect her only to put her back together again.

Leaving her bags near the car and giving Jasper a quick kiss, Alice got into the driver's seat, lovingly caressing the leather of the steering wheel. Jasper had the bags in the front trunk in seconds, the area we were in was dark and far enough from everyone else for him to do so without anyone but the cameras, that would think it a glitch, to see. Once he was done he opened the door for me, urging me inside. I didn't want to get in, I was stubborn and I stood my ground, glaring hard at him.

"Please, get in the car?" he poured on the sweetness, his honey like voice worming it's way through my aids, as he gave me a smirk that told me what would come next if I didn't get in the car.

I bared my teeth and hissed at him before bending down into the car. He needed to know that I had teeth and was ready to use them if I had to. My mom raised me to be as human as possible as best as she could, but she didn't treat me like a fool either. She taught me about my other side, about my vampire side, the strengths that gave me. She taught me to fight, but physical power was nothing against someone like Jasper if I couldn't out move his gift, if I couldn't get it down long enough to throw a punch and make a run. Why couldn't I project my power like that, if I could it would make all this so much easier to get out of and find some way to contact and get back to my mom.

It was another hour of driving, passing through the city and small towns. The last sign I saw was one for Forks Washington. Weird name I thought. From their we turned into the thick forest, winding our way up to Olympic forest and up into the mountains not too far from town, but far enough away from prying eyes with hundreds of acres, maybe even more of thick forest. It was so green, like an alien planet. It was beautiful. And then it all faded away and the we were pulling up along the gravel in front of an incredible house, built into small hillside. The structure was of a modern design with it's main shape, large floor to ceiling windows and it's clash of industrial and wooden elements.

The important part wasn't the house itself, but the ghosts of people I could see inside of it, flittering around nervously, waiting in anticipation for their abductee to make her grand entrance. It reminded me of a bee hive to see them all buzzing around in their, talking about me for sure.

"Come on, everyone is waiting for you." Alice smiled, each little move like she was dancing on her toes, just another little busy bee, always moving, always _buzzing_ like the terrible sound I sometimes got when i first put my aids in right after the initial ringing of them.

Let them wait, I thought. What did it meant to me to make them wait a little longer? I didn't even want to be here, I was forced. I hated it. I wanted to slip out the other door and run into the forest. In fact I even reached for it, but stopped, reluctance tingling up my spine.

"I don't think that would be a good idea." I heard Jasper's voice. "Now, come on and out and we'll go inside. Doesn't that sound nice?"

I nodded, dazed. That sounded like a great idea. I twisted back around and swung my legs out and stood, Jasper closing the door behind me. My stomach flopped as I stared at the front door of the house. I tried to stay rooted, reached behind me for the door, grasping tight at the handle and glaring at Jasper and Alice, leaning back against the vehicle and shaking my head. I wouldn't go. Not this time.

"We won't hurt you,...Vanessa." Alice stepped up, reluctantly saying my name, as if accepting that's what it was would make a difference. "we would never hurt you. Please, your mom and dad are waiting for you inside."

That only made my resolve to not go in stronger. I gripped the handle tighter, my strength denting the metal in my palm as I stared between Jasper and Alice warily. They were too close, unless I jumped up and back onto the car they would catch me if I tried to run past them. I felt like a cornered animal, instinct making me feral as I bared my teeth at them.

"Just come inside, everything will make sense once you see everyone, once you see Bella. You have to remember her at least." she tried to convince me. "She held you just after you were born."

Of course I didn't remember. All I remembered was the taste of blood, and them my moms amber eyes and golden hair curtaining me as she cooed at me softly. If I did remember this Bella I wouldn't be putting up such a fight. Why couldn't they just accept this was some mistake, they had the wrong girl.

"I know this is hard to accept, but please calm down and at least meet her. She and Edward have been searching for you for so long." I shook my head and she sighed.

"I had hoped this would be a much more pleasant first meeting, a happier one between parents and child, but you're ruining it." she pouted, as if this was all about her, like this was some perfect movie moment she had scripted and directed.

"Jasper," she said sadly, resigned towards my continued attitude.

It hits so quick, before I could even move to attempt my counter, I was already under his spell, my hand tearing off the car's door handle viciously as he asked me to come inside, my body moving along as he twisted my emotions around to make me feel like going inside was the most ideal thing in the world to do. Alice gave a gasp of horror at the wreckage done her car. It was regrettable to damage such a beautiful vehicle, but I could barely focus on that with Jasper doping me up with happy feelings.

I felt like I was walking the Green Mile up to the house, Alice and Jasper following a step behind me, watching me. My vision began to tunnel with the house at the center. I felt anxiety creeping in around the anticipation I was forced to feel. I also felt sick. The excitement for what was to come actually, another artificial feeling, was increasing my nausea.

There was a very real chance I might actually vomit some point soon if this kept up.

I felt jittery, my senses on alert from both the adrenaline of my own personal anxiety and the overwhelming enthusiasm tingling at the nerves of my brain as the endorphins were released to make me feel this way. My heart beat faster than it normally did, blood rushing up to my head and legs, making the shake and my head feel full and heavy, followed by a pounding in my temples. Sensing my pain, Jasper sent a wave of pleasure to override the pain I was currently feeling.

Alice moved in front of me and I held my breath as she reached for the knob of the door. The vampires inside stayed where they were upstairs, seeing no movement from inside to think they would come down to meet me. I was relieved for this. It gave me more time, though I wasn't sure for what. Once I got inside, I would really be outnumbered and I wouldn't stand a chance if I tried to fight. This was it for me, I had thrown away every other opportunity for escape out the window before we arrived to the house. I was too much of a coward and Jasper was too quick to respond before any attempt. The only thing to do, was to wait for my mom to come for me.

The moment she opened the door the held in scent of inside came wafting out, assaulting me. The smell of vampire was almost overwhelming. It wasn't an unpleasant smell, just in this case very strong. Like someone who put way too much perfume on. This was mostly caused by so many of them being gathered together in one residence. I had never been around more than two vampires at a time before. In fact, I had never met another vampire like my mom until Alice and Jasper and so far that experienced sucked. I didn't exactly have the best impression of other vampires anymore.

Stepping inside after Alice, Jasper behind me, I lifted my head to look up at the ceiling. I could hear the exhilarated song of the other vampires voices from upstairs, all of them seemingly gathered together to meet me. Like ripping a band aid off by throwing them all at me at once. The atmosphere of the entire house seemed to vibrate with their joy. I wished that Jasper would stop making me feel the same. It added to my nausea.

"What if she doesn't like me?" one woman's voice stood out, her voice ringing with the same musical lilt as the others, strangely hypnotic and as sweet and thick as honey.

"You can't worry about that, it's going to be hard at first. We're all going to have to get to know one another." a man's voice, gentle and strong, comforted her. It was aged, wisdom seeping into every syllable.

"I'm so sorry, Bella, I should have known Ro-" a burly voice, deep with a childish drawl, said. His voice filled with remorse. He was trying to say something about my mom, he had to be. I turned my aids up a notch.

"Emmett, I know you're trying to help, but please I really don't want to talk about her right now, or even hear her name. Please understand." ooh, and the happy and excited moment went sour.

"Yeah, sure." he agreed, his voice withdrawn and apologetic.

"This is it. Ready to meet your real mom and dad." Alice lead us to the stairs to our left, right before the door and twirled to face me at the bottom of them.

I would love to shake my head and glare at her, maybe bear my teeth and hiss at her again. Sadly all I could do under Jaspers influence was smile and blink blankly at her, everything else in me feeling lax and receptive, making it extremely easy for me to go along with someone else.

"Great!" she tweeted, twirled around again and began to dance up the stairs to the rest of her coven.

I wanted her too trip so badly.

I thought that it was funny, how my thoughts stayed mostly untouched, but all the rest of my feelings were affected. I wondered if it was like this for everyone that became Jaspers personal mood ring. Really it was quite fascinating. I admired the capacity of my own mind to thing of numerous things at once. It was an awesome distraction when you needed it, but it felt like I could get lost in their sometimes. Like right now.

"Everyone is waiting," Jasper reminded me. "Please go up."

Kiss my ass, I wanted to tell him while all the while feeling giddy. I took the first step, following Alice as slowly as I possibly could. Which was like slow motion slow. Really, these guys should not underestimate my spite. It was real and ever so mighty.

Somewhere upstairs I hear a soft chuckle.

"What is it Edward?" the woman, Bella, asked someone. The voice new, having stayed quiet before now.

"She's spunky." was his explanation. But then he added, "Like you."

It wasn't hard to figure out that he must be able to read my mind, after all with Jasper messing with my emotions it would be hard for him to tell what I was really feeling if he had the same gift. I pictured the middle finger in my head. Chuckle at that, I thought. The only time I had people in my head was when I let them, and only allowed them to see and feel what I wanted them to, keeping at least some things to myself, just like any other good teenage girl.

I also snuck out to parties, got drunk and made out with boys.

"WHAT!?"

* * *

 **So I really used this chapter to expose a lot of Ness's character, her personality and her flaws. She's not perfect, she's made irreversible changes that she has to live with and we're going to explore those more, I promise. I DO NOT WANT TO MAKE HER A MARY-SUE! It is my worst fear so I am trying really hard to avoid it.**

 **I was really happy with this chapter, and I hope you are too. If so, please, please review, it does make the difference. Though at this point I am actually just writing this story for me, which is good, it means I get a lot of pleasure out of writing each chapter putting actual deep thought into it. Proof is that it is 1:40 in the morning and I have work at 5. For that alone I really hope you send some nice reviews my way.  
**


	3. Chapter 3

_CHAPTER 3_

Once up the stairs we made a right into an open room. There was a fireplace, and couches, like any normal person's home but more luxurious.

I had almost expected coffins.

The vampires, the Cullen's, were all gathered together, coupled up except for one. A huge mass of a man, hunched over in a corner, the absolute picture of misery. Unlike the others, he didn't look up when I came in.

"Jasper, she'll be fine now. You can stop." on of the coupled off men said, the one with the bronze hair.

"I don't think that's the best idea, Edward." Jasper said, glancing at me.

"She knows she's outnumbered, she won't try anything." he reassured his worries. A second later I gasped in a breath, smiling as Jasper let go of his hold over my emotions. It was such a beautiful feeling, to feel what I wanted to feel without restraint. It was like a thousand pound boulder had been sitting on my chest, and I was trapped in my own body, unable to express myself.

"I'm so sorry about that," I looked at the two vampires closest to me. It was the man who had apologized.

A blond man, young, probably turned while he was in his mid to late twenties. He had neatly combed blond hair, and looked just as much as a model as any other vampire. Tilting my head, he reminded me of the greek god zeus. He was tall, 6'2 at the most the woman. His arm around was around the waist of a woman, her face aged just a little more than his. Probably turned in her late twenties early thirties, but she was no less beautiful, in fact her age seemed to enhance her beauty.

She was shorter than him and taller than me, with billowing caramel blonde hair. She was slender and rounded, curvy. She had these, slender eyebrows and a look of pure compassion, expressed in every smile and blink of her warm eyes.

More than anyone in the room, she stunned me the most.

Before getting to the other couple, I studied the giant next. Was this who Alice had been talking about, the man my mom left behind. Her true love. Emmett. He had dark curly hair, and I could see the hint of little dimples that I was sure would be enhanced if he was smiling like the others. I had never seen someone so large and yet looked so much like a child, lost, just hovering not knowing what to do, where to go. I felt bad for him.  
"Renesmee?" I turned my head with a snap, as Bella's voice rang out. She had been sitting on one of the sofa's with a bronze haired man. She was standing now, looking as nervous as a cat on hot bricks.

She was just as beautiful as the rest of them. She was the most comfortably dressed of them all. A cashmere sweater, pair of designer jeans and valentino booties. She had long brown hair with a widow's peak, a thin nose and angular face, her lips were a little too full for the shape of her face, but it worked for her. The worst part is that I could see my reflection in bits of her features, her cheekbones, her eyebrows, even forehead.

In the man next to her I saw my chin, my nose, my ears, my natural reddish brown hair. The fact that I noticed these things had me choking, my breath hiccuping in my throat. I felt tears prick at my eyes with the realization, the dots connecting. This wasn't right, this wasn't true. I knew who my mom was, this woman wasn't her. I didn't want to believe these people were my parents. Sniffing, my tears finally fell, rolling down my cheeks in hot and heavy streams, my face flushing into an ugly expression.

Bella, misinterpreting my reaction, ran to me before Edward or Jasper could explain to her what I was really feeling. That these tears were not happy ones, I was not relieved to be here to see her or any of them. She stopped in front of me, drinking in my face, her hands hovering, afraid to touch me.

"You're so beautiful," I tried not to look at her, scooting back from her. I didn't want her near me.

"Do you remember me at all?" I wanted to rip my hearing aids out, hearing her even when I wasn't seeing her lips. My aids were the top of the line, the most advanced in centuries, allowing the deaf to hear, even if it sounded only like a whisper. It was something, it was words, and not just noise. It was supposed to be a gift but all it felt like was a nightmare right now. I hated it.

I cried harder and shook my head, stepping back from her. Of course I didn't remember her and I didn't want to. I didn't care if it was true, that my mom wasn't my biological mom, I still wanted to live with her. I loved her and she loved me and that's all we have ever needed.

"Oh, Renesmee." I caught the words before she wrapped her arms around me, speaking right into my ear. That wasn't my name.

"My nudger, my baby, you're home." but I wasn't home, I was very, very far from it in fact.

I couldn't take it and pushed her off of me as hard as I could, watching her fly back across the room, crashing into one of the sofa's. She was startled and hurt. Not physically hurt, but emotionally at my rejection. Edward, was by her side in a whoosh, his arms around her, comforting her. They didn't seem to be surprised by my strength.

"She's going to need time, Bella, you've just overwhelmed her is all." he told her, kissing her forehead and pushing some of her hair back from her face lovingly as she clung to him.

I glared at him. That was not it at all, he was lying to her to spare her feelings.

"I'm sorry, Renesmee, you just don't know how long I've been waiting for this moment." said Bella, looking ready to cry. That is if vampires could cry.

"Tell her to stop calling me that awful name. My name is Vanessa" I directed my thoughts towards my so called dad, sneering at him through my tears and then added. " _No wonder my mom took me; a name like that is pure child abuse."_

"You have to understand, that name reminds us of the worst time in our existence," Edward said his face a burning expression, but there was something lacking there, it wasn't the same intensity at Bella's.

"I don't care." I signed and thought at the same time, my thoughts chilling. "that's my name, and it's the only one I will ever go by."

"Edward, what is she saying." Bella looked up at him, looking between us. What, so everyone else here could commune in sign language, but not her. How convenient for her to not know my real thoughts.

"She asks that she be called 'Vanessa,'" he told her. Her eyes went wide and stayed on me, hurt clear in her eyes, as if asking such a thing had somehow insulted her.

"I don't think I can do that-" she cut off, closing her eyes tight.

"It would be best to try, Bella, for the sake of your relationship. It's going to be very difficult for her, this may make it easier for her." said the older blonde, stepping forward from his partner.  
"Hello, Vanessa. My name is Carlisle," he signed, each one perfect and his gestures downpat. he looked to the woman next to him, the one that had me stunned."This is Esme, my wife."

"I'm your paternalgrandfather, and Emse is your grandmother." he explained, his hand open as he touched his thumb to his forehead and made two small arches. The sign for grandfather. He did the same for grandmother, accept he touched his thumb to his chin.

"It's nice to meet you." Esme stepped up next to him and signed, her mouth forming the words out loud as well.

I did my best to hide my pleasure that they both knew ASL, it made things much easier, I wouldn't have to share my gift just to communicate. These people didn't deserve that, to be able to see that much of me.

"That a shame, Alice said your gift is very beautiful." Edward said, disappointed.

I stared at him unimpressed by his mind reading.

"I know this is hard, Vanessa," this time it was his turn to have some awkward moment with me, and he smirked a little at the snide comment in my head. "But we're all going to get through this as a family."

"I already have a family. My mom." I glared at him, at all of them. "I want to be with her."

"You can't. You have to understand that what she did, taking you, was incredibly wrong. You are _our_ daughter." he told her, his face going into a harder, colder expression at the mention of my mom.

"I don't care." I told him, so incredibly pissed off.

"She loves me, and I love her." I told them, feeling another hot wave of emotion and tears rip through me. "How could that be wrong?"  
None of them had an answer.

"She's not the only one," he finally said, Bella still hanging back looking to Carlisle for interpretation. "like it or not, I am your father and Bella is your mother, and we love you just as much as Rosalie. We just never got the chance to show you."

"She's not a bad person." I cried, pressing my lips together as I signed. I had to defend my mom, I wouldn't let them make her out to be anything but the amazing person she was. If she took me from them, then she had a good reason for it.

"So you believe us, that we're your parents?" he followed, his eyes holding some hope in them, more than they had before.

"It's hard not to now that I have met you but knowing the truth isn't the same as accepting it." I said, showing him his own face and Bella's of the features we shared, cutting them out and piecing them together to make my face. "And don't think I'm going to start calling you mom or dad now either.. "

"We don't expect you too." he gave me a kind and understanding smile. I wanted to smack him.

"It's been a long day. Or you tired or….hungry, at all?" Esme asked, the question in the word 'hungry' easy to read.

"You can just ask?" I smiled, amused, wiping at my very wet face. I was such an ugly cryer. Damn I shouldn't be smiling, this was not a time to be smiling.

"What do I eat?" I clarified for her. It didn't bother me, after all she was a vampire, so it wasn't exactly an insensitive question considering what we were.

"Well, yes." she made a sheepish expression.  
"I eat both regular food and blood." I shrugged. I much preferred regular food, but once a month I got an insatiable craving for blood, human or animal, it didn't matter, though human had a better flavor to it. Richer.

"You drink human blood?!" Edward spoke loudly, appalled and horrified by this new information about me.

I shrugged. It wasn't often, in fact it was very rare as it was something my mom frowned on, believing that we were both better to have more control over our urges and instincts then to feed off of humans. That it distances us from our own humanity and from the mundane life we worked so hard to keep.

Human blood tasted better, but like fatty, fast food in comparison to the blander, healthier choice of animal blood. Animal blood sustained us, but it always left you wanting a little more afterwards. Just like when you ate a salad, but you really wanted a cheeseburger.

Since I was too little too hunt, my mom had bottle fed me stolen blood from blood banks and hospitals. She did what she had to to feed me at the time.

Once I was old enough to hunt, she taught me how. To keep me interested, she made it like a game, a competition between us. I loved to see who was faster, who would catch the prey first. But I slipped one day, I was in town, it was cloudy and a little boy had fallen and scraped his knee. Drawn to the blood, all my senses making my body tingle with a ferocious hunger, I had run to him. I had bent down, examined his leg and after giving him my sweetest smile licked the blood from his knee's. It was then that I had bit him just above the scrape on his thigh, my mother pulling me off of him just as my teeth broke the skin.

She apologized to the boy and to his parents, taking notice that other than a little pain he wasn't burning, he wasn't writhing in agony like those that were bitten and infected with vampire venom. It was then that my mother realized I had no venom, that I could bite without turning or killing anyone with the right amount of restraint.

She had told me it was wrong, that I wasn't to do it again, but it did. We put it on the human blood that I had to drink as a baby, gave me a taste for it. Animal blood just wasn't enough. One day my throat had burned and my stomach grumbled. Unable to take seeing me in such pain, she took me into the city and we hunted like we always did, but this time the prey was another species. We found someone, she helped me lure them to a private, closed off area and I fed. The guy was still alive after, and my mom had blinded him so he couldn't see my face.

It only happened two more times and only when I was desperate, when my body wouldn't accept anything else. Then I found human food, and found that it could give me the same satisfaction and fulfillment as human blood.

My mom was relieved when we made that discovery. She would always do what she had to for me, to make sure I was healthy and happy, but it was clear that she rather I didn't have to drink from humans. She worried about how it would affect my mindset and moral compass.

"Don't look at me like that." I told him when I noticed the look Edward was giving me, my hands moving in frantic, angry motions as I signed. "I don't have venom, I can't turn anyone if I bite them, and I've never drained anyone dry. I don't hurt people!"

All of them looked trouble after my announcement, almost wary of me.

"We never hurt humans, it's a personal oath all of the members in our family took." Carlisle told me. "We are strictly vegetarian."

I rolled my eyes. They acted like I had committed some terrible crime. It's not that I didn't appreciate human life, I did, I admired it greatly. It was so beautiful and intricate, a web of entwined interactions and experiences. I would never want to take that away from someone. Never want to steal away their normalcy, their life and the ambitions they worked towards. It was all so incredible.  
Bella, who couldn't read my mind and didn't know sign language looked again to Edward for explanation as to the conversation. She herself, didn't seem nearly as concerned with this news.

"Edward, we gave her human blood when I was pregnant, you can't blame her for having a taste for it when we are the ones who gave her that first taste." she touched his shoulder, keeping his attention, her amber eyes seeming to mesmerize him. "You can't be too hard on her."

I wasn't sure if she really believed it wasn't as dire a thing as the others thought, or she was just trying to get me too like her. I tried not to appreciate the empathy and turn of attention from me. But as I felt my stomach roll, most likely making a terribly loud sound, the attention was once more on me and suddenly two other people had entered the room.

"And that is our cue, leave it to witches to cook up something amazing." I jumped a good few feet as two people came up from behind me on either side, putting me on defense at the sudden surprise of their arrival.

They were both black, my age, one girl and one boy with striking hazel eyes and sharp features. They had to be siblings, maybe ever twins. The girl was wearing a green and bronze dress that looked like it came from a medieval time, and thigh high brown leather boots. Her long hair was silver, tied in a hundred thin, tight braids. Her septum was pierced, a little gold ring above her lip. She was beautiful.

The boy was no less so, his dark hair a mess of fuzzy dreads. He had a very lucid expression, calm and almost...high. He smiled lazily at me. He was a little taller than the girl, more than a few inches as he leaned an arm on her shoulder. He was wearing a contrast blazer with a gray textured body and leather sleeves over a black top. He wore a white skirt over a pair of black, ripped skinny jeans. A unique look that belonged on a runway.  
"I'm Deka and this is my brother Adisa." Deka, the girl introduced both herself and him. Her signing just as perfect as Carlisle's and Esme's but there was something about the way she moved her hands, foreign, like she knew ASL, but a different form of it. I had never seen that before.

"Now, let's get you something to eat. I have been dying to cook for someone other than this guy." she said, ending with a gesture toward Adisa, who I still assumed was her brother. He gave a dopey wave, his eyes still in that half lidded sleepy gaze.

Deka walked backwards in front of me and Adisa guided be from behind, his hands gentle on my shoulders as he nudged me to follow her. None of the others stopped them, which I took as a good sign that they trusted the two of them.

Unlike Alice, Deka had a more down to earth cheerfulness to her, not overly enthusiastic, keeping an aloof cool to her. She didn't annoy me like Alice did. And they were human, that's what surprised me the most, but underneath I smelt something different, something exoctic and, and...well I couldn't really explaining. It what I imagined magic might smell like. So what exactly were they. She had said witches. But was that just a figure of speech, or did she actually mean to say that she was a witch.

"Yes, we are witches, and no I can't read your mind. You're expression gave away what you were thinking. Though I am really good guesser." she smiled at me, her hazel eyes twinkling. And I meant actually twinkled, like a special effect in a movie.

"You live here too?" I asked her as we entered a kitchen, another living area right around the corner on the other side of a fireplace. Adisa lead me to the long island and pulled out a stool for me, smiling, his eyes a little clearer.

"Yes. We've been here for almost a year now." she told me, leaning her elbows on the island in front of her. "We lived in Los Angeles before."

"So what do you want to eat?" she asked me, changing the subject.

"I'm up for anything as long as I can help make it?" I told her with a shrug. Signing was hard once I actually started cooking.

Yeah, I also liked to cook. When we lived in Italy, my mom had gotten the best little house with the best kitchen she could find. She bought me top of the line cookery ware, pots and pans, and for two months she had hired a private chef to teach me how to cook. It had been a christmas present that year. It was the best. My mom couldn't eat any of it, but it made her happy to see me happy doing something that I found out I really loved to do.

When I grow up, if I ever grow past this point, I want to be a chef and to open my own restaurant.

"Alright. Then how about you take a look in the fridge, see if you can get an idea for what you might want?" Deka grinned wide, finishing her signing with a wave of her hand, beckoning me from my seat to join her on her side, waving over to the refrigerator.

When I get up she turns from the counter to face me, leaning back against it on her elbows as she watches me. Adisa in on her other side, taking out pots and pans, putting them in a line by size.

Sticking my head into the fridge, I search through the contents. The double door fridge and all the glory inside could easily belong in the kitchen of Master Chef. It had everything I could imagine in it, top grade produce and meat. I could only imagine what the spice cabinet looked like. I was in heaven.

Organizing and reviewing all the ingredients that was available I decided on Chicken Parmesan. I was in the mood for some cheesy, saucy goodness.

I made quick work of getting everything I needed out of the fridge, neatly organizing it next to the stove. Moving around each other, Deka helped me prepare the batter for the chicken while Adisa was trusted with the seasoning of the sauce. We turned on the oven to preheat and together when the batter was ready we dipped the chicken in, laying it out on a pan after and sliding it into the oven.

At some point music was put on, I could both hear some of it and feel the vibrations of the rhythm in the counter. Adisa had put it on really loud so I wouldn't have to strain to enjoy it. That's when I realized it.

"Adisa, or you deaf?" I asked him as politely as one could ask. He smiled and shook his head.

Deka tapped me on the shoulder to get my attention.

"He had laryngitis when we were kids, but unlike most people who regain their voice once the infection in gone, he never did. He can't speak." she explained. "He can sign, but he's very self conscious about it. He's never quite picked up on it that well. Most of the time he just writes stuff down."

"Ok," I said, and smiled at Adisa before we went back to focusing on the food. I wasn't going to make a big deal about it, I knew how it felt to have a lot of attention placed on a disability.

Somehow or another, all three of us ended up getting really into the song, our hips swaying, our arms up, heads bobbing and hair fluttering around our faces. Adisa was giving me a spin, the music so loud that even with my hearing aids I never heard the booming voice. I noticed that Adisa and Deka seemed to stiffen for just a second, enough that I frowned at them before they were taking turns twirling me around, our hips bumping as we let go. I was so grateful for what they were doing, trying to get me to relax and feel comfortable. For just a little while, as we cook and dance, I can forget the present situation and have a little fun again.

There was yelling then, loud enough I could feel and hear the booming mumur over the music. With the song still going I couldn't hear much.

"Brady saw you with a human in your car coming up here, where is she now? How many people are you going to endanger!" the man roared, something about the muffle of his voice sending a spark through me and I shuddered.

What was that?  
I didn't hear much more but a murmur that I could not make out coming from the other room, though I was sure they were talking to one another, I could guess that much. I assumed the topic was me. It made me anxious, and I combed my hair back with my fingers and pushing it to the side, my palm sliding up and over my forehead, fingers slipping into my silky hair. It was a habit I've always seeme to have, my mom didn't like it for some reason though. She never said anything about it, but she always frowned when she saw me do it. I wonder if any of this had to do with it, maybe it was something that I got from Bella or Edward.

Who else was here? Was it another vampire, more witches like Deka and Adisa. I wanted to know what was going on, so i turned down the music just in time to hear the elated voice of a man.

"You found her?!" it was deep, and the tone made my bones ache in the strangest way, like my body was craving something I didn't know it needed. It was so weird.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner? Where is she?" the man to continue to raise his voice, relief and anger mixed in the same sentence. Heavy steps shuffled around the house, searching. Then they started towards the kitchen

"This really isn't the time, Jacob. It's been a long day, we just want her to eat and then take her to the cabin to get settled in and rest for the night." Edward said, following this Jacob person.

"You can see her tomorrow!" he promised, urging him to leave, almost sounding angry the other was even here.  
"Screw that!" he tossed back, and then someone was rounding the corner into the kitchen, and that's when I first saw him.


End file.
